Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

If Democrats find a way to hang on to the 3rd Congressional District in Southwestern Wisconsin this fall, it will almost certainly mean that Gov. Tony Evers will win a second term, that Sen. Ron Johnson will be defeated and that the Democrats will hold the Senate and stem their losses in the House. TheContinue reading “The Crucial 3rd District”

Something very strange could happen in Wisconsin in November. Aaron Rodgers might just go quietly about his business without saying anything weird? Well, no, not that strange. It’s possible that national Democrats could get crushed while Democratic Gov. Tony Evers could win a second term and a Democrat might beat Republican Sen. Ron Johnson. That’sContinue reading “Some Good News For Evers”

To no one’s surprise, progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin was recalled this week in San Francisco. This comes on the heals of the recall of three far-left school board members in the same city, one of the most liberal places in America. What’s going on? What’s going on is good news for Democrats. It suggests thatContinue reading “Boudin’s Recall Bodes Well For Dems”

Heading back to the Emerald City from the North Woods a little later so I’ll keep this one brief. I started thinking about this yesterday on the way to the dump. I had to go back 32 years for the last time that a Wisconsin governor defied the mid-term curse. Traditionally the party that controlsContinue reading “Trend is Tough for Evers”

In the last year or so two major changes have combined to make big time college sports more fair to the players. First, the NCAA finally caved to the inevitable and allowed players to make money off their own “name, image and likeness” — basically they could make commercials for local car dealerships or whatever,Continue reading “College Sports Improving Rapidly”

The fate of the iconic walleye was sealed on December 12, 2000. That’s the day that the Supreme Court essentially awarded the presidency to George W. Bush over Al Gore. Gore was a leader on climate change and his administration would have pushed aggressive policies to fight it at a time when something still mightContinue reading “Midwest: Walleyes”

My Google calendar reminded me the other day that it was the start of LGBTQ+ Month. In February it let me know that it was Black History Month. In March it was Women’s History Month. I watched a lot of college basketball that month. I saw a Buick commercial approximately one million times in whichContinue reading “The Culture Wars Are Over; Liberals Won”

The rest of the class got the assignment in on time. Only Alex Lasry made an excuse for why he couldn’t. I guess the dog ate his homework. Let me begin by acknowledging that everybody I know who knows Lasry says that he’s a good person. Decent, hard-working, likable. That’s fine and the quality ofContinue reading “Lasry: Dog Ate My Homework”

Wisconsin Elections Commissioner Dean Knudson abruptly resigned last week. Knudson is a sane Republican who admits the obvious — Donald Trump lost — and thinks his party should move on from conspiracy theories. For that he’s been vilified by some of his fellow party members and he says that party leadership made it clear toContinue reading “Knudson Throws in the Towel”

My book, Light Blue is subtitled, “How center-left moderates can build an enduring Democratic majority.” Today, let’s talk about “enduring.” Democrats are likely to get toasted in this fall’s midterm elections. For those of us who shade left of center, that’s bad news, but not as bad as what might happen in 2024. Luckily, differentContinue reading “The Need for the Long Game”